Excel - Setting Up The Worksheet

ShipRush works with spreadsheets in the Excel format. Excel versions 2000, XP, 2003 and 2007 can be used. Most modern Excel file types work with ShipRush: .xls, .xlsx, and .xlsb files are supported.

 

ShipRush reads from the spreadsheet into the ShipRush Order Manager. From the Order Manager, you can ship one-at-a-time or in bulk. Tracking numbers can be written back into the spreadsheet.

 

Before a spreadsheet can be used with ShipRush, it needs two simple preparation steps.

 

To download a sample xls file, click here (click Save when prompted -- note the file may be saved to your PC as Read Only, which will cause an error when saving tracking numbers. Uncheck the Read Only checkbox on the file to resolve this.).

 

Properly Named Worksheet

The data must be in a worksheet named either "shiprush" or "sheet1" as shown:

 

 

 

 

 

Column Names Set

The worksheet needs to have appropriate column names to identify the data. A basic set of columns is required. Additional columns are optional.

 

Column names are set by simply typing the names in row 1 of the worksheet:

 

 

 

Column Format (aka Data Type)

This step is required on Excel 2007 and higher if the PostalCode and/or OrderID columns contain any non-numeric data.

Simply select the entire column, right click, select Format Cells, select Text (as shown below), and press OK. Do this for both the PostalCode and OrderID columns.

 

 

This worksheet is ready to go:

 

 

 

 

Required column names:

 

 

For ShipRush to write the tracking number or shipped status (IsShipped) into Excel, additional columns are required:

 

 

The OrderID column must be unique within the worksheet. For example, it can be a unique customer ID or order number. For a quick way to generate unique ID's in Excel, see the section below.

 

The TrackingNumber column should be empty. This is where ShipRush will write tracking numbers. Note that any data in this column will be overwritten by ShipRush.

 

Additional Optional Columns

 

Quick and Dirty Unique OrderID Values

If your source data lacks a unique value for each row, take these steps:

 

  1. In row 1 of an empty column, enter: OrderID
  2. In row 2 of this column, enter the formula: =Row()

     
  3. Select the cell from #2 above and press ctrl-c

     
  4. Now select all cells in this column from row 3 down to the bottom of the data
  5. Press ctrl-v
  6. This will paste the formula into all cells in this column
  7. Each row should now have a unique row number in the OrderID column. This will allow ShipRush to write tracking numbers back into Excel.

 

 

 

 

Next: Adding the worksheet to ShipRush